Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson contributed to the biggest WrestleMania in WWE history – and looks to have been rewarded in style.

The wrestling sensation turned Hollywood star returned to the ring last weekend for WrestleMania XL.

The Rock played a huge role in WrestleMania XL and the events surrounding it, including a 45-minute match on SaturdayCredit: WWE

Battling in the main event of WrestleMania Saturday, he pinned Cody Rhodes in a tag team match involving Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, and was heavily involved in Sunday’s action, too.

He strode to the ring to confront fellow legend John Cena before being seen off by The Undertaker in chaotic scenes that resulted in Rhodes defeating Reigns to win the WWE Undisputed title.

It capped what WWE claimed was their biggest WrestleMania of all time in terms of live gate, viewership, and social media, and contributed towards an overall weekend attendance at company events of over 200,000 fans.

The Great One then appeared on Raw on Monday night, going face to face with the new champ, vowing they’ll battle it out in future – fans speculating that they’ll collide at next year’s WrestleMania 41.

His appearance gave the red brand show a huge boost, Raw drawing an average rating of 2.362 million viewers, its best figure since before the COVID pandemic hit.

According to Wrestlenomics, the segment featuring Rock and Rhodes reached a phenomenal peak of 3.19 million viewers.

While Rhodes lapped up the plaudits of the live audience, few can argue the contribution towards those figures, The Rock has clearly left his mark on a revitalised product.

His wrestling comeback was triggered by his appointment to the board of TKO – WWE’s parent company – in late January.

The Rock joined the board of WWE’s parent company, TKO, back in January and put plans in place for his in-ring returnCredit: WWE

Rock appeared on both nights of WrestleMania last weekend, and netted a sizable stock from TKO on SundayCredit: WWE

It’s now emerged that, in the wake of WrestleMania, TKO handed Johnson a huge stock boost in the form of 96,558 TKO shares on Sunday.

Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thruston reports the shares are valued at around $9.41 million – around £7.4 million – and were vested “upon completion of certain services described” in Rock’s January 2024 contract.

The long-term storyline which culminated in victory for Rhodes was reportedly set to have The Rock going head-to-head with Reigns, before Rock called for a change in the storyline in the wake of negative fan reaction.

In its end result, Rock’s latest WWE certainly hit in the mark and provided a number of memorable moments aside from WrestleMania itself.

The Floridian’s beat-down of Rhodes weeks prior resulted in heartbreak for one young wrestling fan that went viral, while the veteran’s industrial language throughout also kept television censors busy.

Throughout it all, the 51-year-old himself appears to have had fun. He told the post-Mania press conference following his 45-minute match on Saturday: “I think that Triple H has done a tremendous job as our chief creative officer.

“I like pushing things and new times. It feels like in professional wrestling that this is a new era.

“[Saturday] was a special night. This was the beginning of something, the beginning of something new.

The Rock has hinted he’s likely to wrestle again, with fans suggesting a match against Cody Rhodes could be aheadCredit: WWE

“I think from a company standpoint, this is an exciting time for the company, for WWE, for TKO.”